Due in part to the very high proportion of value creation at suppliers
outside of the company, especially in the case of manufacturing companies, the
development of the company is strongly influenced by them. Suppliers are increasingly
involved in processes of their customers or even take over processes by
themselves. As a result, the management of supplier relationships through
purchasing is important. Above all, the management of “small, non-replaceable”
suppliers is a challenge. Therefore, the type of cooperation with such
suppliers as well as the implementation of special management activities
is examined. Furthermore, the effects of close customer-supplier relationships
are determined with regard to readiness for change. One finding is that the
majority of companies work with “small, non-replaceable” suppliers
and closely control them to quickly intervene in case of performance deviations.
With regard to cooperation with suppliers, with whom there is a close
relationship, it should be noted that in the case of big differences in
purchase prices compared to the market and in the case of major quality or logistics
problems, the close relationship does not protect against a change of supplier.